Dollar Rising After Fed Maintains Rates

The dollar is gaining ground against its major rivals Thursday afternoon, after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. The announcement was in line with the expectations of economists.

Meanwhile, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits showed a slight decrease in the week ended November 3rd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 214,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 213,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The dollar climbed to around $1.1380 against the Euro Thursday afternoon, from an early low of $1.1446.

Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent rise in exports and a 0.8 percent increase in imports.

The trade surplus declined to a seasonally adjusted EUR 17.6 billion from EUR 18.2 billion in the previous month.

France's merchandise trade deficit modestly narrowed in September from the previous month, figures from the French Customs Office showed on Thursday. The trade deficit fell to EUR 5.663 billion from EUR 5.701 billion in August. Economists had forecast a shortfall of EUR 5.83 billion. The deficit was EUR 4.884 billion a year ago.

The buck has risen to around $1.3090 against the pound sterling Thursday afternoon, from an early low of $1.3150.

The greenback dipped to an early low of Y113.546 against the Japanese Yen Thursday, but has since broken out to a 1-month high of Y113.915.

The value of core machine orders in Japan plunged 18.3 percent on month in September, the Cabinet Office said, coming in at 802.2 billion yen. That was well shy of expectations for a decline of 9.0 percent following the 6.8 percent increase in August.

Japan had a current account surplus of 1,821.6 billion yen in September, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday, down 19.3 percent on year. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of 1,786.5 billion yen and was down from 1,838.4 billion yen in August.

Overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.2 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday, coming in at 529.471 trillion yen. That follows the 2,3 percent increase in September.

A measure of the public assessment of the Japanese economy rose more-than-expected in October to its highest level in nine months, survey data from the Cabinet Office showed on Thursday. The current conditions index of the Economy Watchers Survey rose to 49.5 from 48.6 in September. Economists had forecast a score of 48.9.